The weekend of November 4/5 saw a hive of activity in the village. Several stalwarts turned out on Saturday morning to building the biggest bonfire Whixley has seen over the last few years. Many thanks to Portakabin Limited who provided the wood, and to Johnsons of Whixley for delivering it to site on Saturday morning and sending their excellent fork-lift driver to unload the lorry. Once unloaded, the 40ft trailer load of old pallets was fallen upon by the willing volunteers to manhandle the contents across the field to the site and build the giant bonfire. (See picture on the left). Well done Steve, John, Nick, Adam, Jan, Ian, Rick, Gary, Tony, Kevin, Steve, and Barry.
Saturday evening saw the lighting of the bonfire which certainly went up with a whoosh. The fire lit up the night sky and the faces of the watchers on the clear moonlit night. Hundreds of people from the village and the surrounding countryside came into the village to witness the spectacle which was followed by a spectacular firework display lasting over 15 minutes organised by Ferensby Fireworks. The size of the display was made possible by the loan of the adjacent field from Alan Sutton which allowed the setup to be of sufficient distance from the watching crowds.
The village hall was packed with the bar, cake stall and food stalls all doing a roaring trade. Thanks to the Ladies of Whixley who again delivered a fine array of food including hot dogs, hamburgers, chilli, baked potatoes and of course the normal amazing selection of home-baked cakes and pastries.
Sunday morning was another beautiful autumn day in Whixley and the morning saw the clean up with Kevin, Jan, Steve and Rick clearing away the bonfire debris of the previous evening, in particular making sure the land was free from nails and other non-combustibles left over from the bonfire. They were supplemented by volunteers for the annual village litter-pick (some of the hi-vis-adorned volunteers pictured on the right).